COAS Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa receiving a briefing at the Corp
V Headquarter in Karachi on December 14, 2016

A new COAS has taken over the command of Pakistan
Army. While he has shown proactive approach expected of the office of the COAS
in visiting various forward positions and Corps Headquarters in the month, the
most important public messages delivered have been with the COAS stating that
‘we will continue to move ahead the gains made so far [in Operation
Zarb-e-Azb]’ as well as in Karachi.1 The COAS also vowed to ensure ‘foolproof security for CPEC.’

The flurry of visits and public statements is
also accompanied by a flurry of postings and transfers, which has seen the face
of the Military high command being altered, with new Chief of General Staff,
DG ISI, and DG ISPR in place.

PILDAT believes the most critical task facing
the new Army Chief is of wrapping up the Operation Zarb-e-Azb by achieving the
targets that were set. Although the return of Temporarily Displaced People was
to be finished by December 2016, there seems to be no end in sight in this regard.2

COAS
Interactions with Foreign Dignitaries

The trend of COAS meeting foreign dignitaries,
apparently without ambassadorial representation is continuing under the new
COAS who held the following interactions during December 2016:

On December 15, 2016, Mr. David Hale, the United States
of America’s Ambassador to Pakistan visited GHQ and
called on the COAS.3

In addition, the COAS also undertook his first official
foreign visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January 17-19, 2017, where
he called upon the King of Saudi Arabia and the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, the Deputy Crown Prince and
Defence Minister, His Royal Highness Muhammad bin Salma.

COAS calling upon the King of Saudi Arabia and the Custodian
of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud on December 18,
2017

In the developing saga of Gen. (Retd.) Raheel
Sharif allegedly protecting Gen. (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf from his treason trial,
the former Military-dictator-turned-President decided to step into the fray
himself in December 2016.

During an interview to Dunya TV’s Mr.
Kamran Shahid on December 19, 2016, he stated that ‘He [Gen.
(Retd.) Raheel Sharif] did help me and I am grateful… he helped me
out because the cases are politically motivated. They [the PML-N
Federal Government] put me on the ECL; they turned it into a political issue’.
He went on to say that the Gen. (Retd.) Raheel Sharif had ‘a role
to play in releasing the pressure behind the scenes … Once he
[Gen. (Retd.) Raheel Sharif] got the Government to relieve the pressure
that they were exerting, the courts gave their judgment and allowed me to go
abroad for treatment’.

He also went on the say that ‘unfortunately,
one has to say it, but shouldn’t have to…our judiciary
works under pressure behind the scenes and then gives rulings’.

Gen. (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf’s controversial
statements were quick to draw a rebuttal from the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court, who during a hearing on the Ayyan Ali case on December 22, 2016 stated
that ‘let it be known to everybody that the judiciary never decides
cases under pressure, but in accordance with its conscience’.4

Interestingly, however, the presser issued by
the Government did not deny the statements made by the former President regarding
Gen. (Retd.) Raheel Sharif’s involvement, and instead took an exception
to his statement about the sources of his differences with the PML-N led Government,
which eventually led to the coup of 1999.5 As we noted in our November 2016 issue, it was in fact Federal Minister
for States and Frontier Regions, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch, MNA, who
had first indicated during a television programme, that saving Gen. (Retd.)
Pervez Musharraf ‘had the signatures’ of Gen. (Retd.) Raheel
Sharif.6

Premier-COAS
Interactions

The Prime Minister and the COAS met once during
December 2016 on December 05, 2016 when Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa called on the
Prime Minister to ‘discuss professional issues related to national
security’.

This was a one-on-one meeting without the presence
of the Federal Minister for Defence.

Mr. Saleem Safi: Was not Gen. (Retd.) Raheel
Sharif also angry at the action taken against Gen. (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf?

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch: I
will only say that the fact Gen. (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf stayed in the
hospital for such a long time, without any reason, and then also stayed
in Karachi for such a long time, without going to court, I believe that
you can say that institution was involved to some extent; there was something.

Mr. Saleem Safi: But was the Government
not conveyed that it should not initiate action against Gen. (Retd.) Pervez
Musharraf?

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch: Let
me be honest that I am not amongst the inner circle of Mian Sahib’s
political Government. Nothing of the sort was shared with me.

Mr. Saleem Safi: But there can be no two
ways about the fact that Raheel Sharif Sahib saved General Pervez Musharraf?

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch: Yes,
definitely it had his signatures. Let me clarify that Gen. (Retd.) Raheel
Sharif was not part of any conspiracy to remove the elected Government
through undemocratic means. As far as functioning is concerned, it will
be very hard for me to justify that the civil-military leadership were
on the same page.